


a single look in your eyes

by softambrollins



Series: missing piece [2]
Category: Professional Wrestling
Genre: Angst, Breaking Up & Making Up, Canon Compliant, Codependency, Goodbyes, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Post-Break Up, Reunions, Stolen Moments, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21723118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softambrollins/pseuds/softambrollins
Summary: He wishes he could reach inside him and tear out the piece of him that can't live without Seth. That still wants him,yearnsfor him, that wants to believe him when every other fibre of his being is telling him otherwise. It's like a fucking cancer, making him weak, sucking all the life out of him. Preventing him from ever moving on, being happy, feeling anything other thanthis. It's been growing and growing in the dark for years. And Dean can't stop himself from nurturing it sometimes. With every furtive glance and every stolen moment and every agonisingly hopeless wish.It's never going away. He knows that now. Maybe that piece of him has just been his heart all along.Dean spends years trying to let go of Seth, and it never works.
Relationships: Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley/Seth Rollins | Tyler Black
Series: missing piece [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565665
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	a single look in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Companion to [missing piece](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21684286). You should definitely read that before you read this.
> 
> I never actually meant to write this, so apologies if it's really bad and makes no sense.

He does a double-take when he steps into the bar and he sees him sitting there. He's slumped over on a stool, his head's bowed, his hair is covering his face, he looks like a fucking mess, which is something he hasn't seen too often, but it's undeniably Seth. He still feels that strange tingle all over his skin, unsettling but enticing, whenever he's near that's never quite gone away. Sometimes it makes him instinctively curl his hand into a fist and other times it just makes his mouth go dry. He's not sure yet which one it is tonight. He considers just leaving, not letting _this_ — whatever is about to happen — happen, but somehow it almost feels like it _has_ to — almost like fate.

He still doesn't know what possessed him to go to Birmingham to see Seth six months ago. Maybe he was just bored and he had nothing better to do than torment him when he knew he couldn't get away. Maybe that's the reason he'd give if anyone ever asked. But that's not what he'd wanted to do. He thought he was over it before Seth's injury, he thought he'd accepted that Seth was gone and he'd never get him back. But thinking about him hurt and vulnerable and probably scared in some cold, sterile room somewhere being told by doctors that maybe his knee would never be the same again, his career would never be the same again — it didn't make him feel anything like the satisfaction he thought it would. There was nothing pleasant about it. It was just sad and useless and Seth did it all to himself. He had to know that. Dean needed to know that he knew that. He wanted to see Seth's face when he realised he had nothing left. He wanted to stand in front of him and make sure he knew that he could've _had_ this, all of this, but he threw it away instead. Even if it changes nothing at all between them.

Maybe some fucked-up part of him just didn't want him to be alone. Maybe he missed him, no matter how many times he'd told himself they were done, it was over, it was pointless to want anything from Seth anymore.

He shouldn't have gone there, but Seth was all delirious and hopped up on drugs, and he probably didn't remember any of it. That should've been the end of it. Tonight should've been the end of it, but Dean still takes a seat next to Seth anyway.

Seth looks almost as bad as he did then right now and maybe if he's lucky, he can get him drunk enough so that he forgets all of this too. That's apparently what Seth's aiming for too. It feels kind of pathetic, that this is where he's spending tonight, that he flew across the country just to _look_ at Seth and he probably just wrote it off as a dream, that the thing he somehow wants the most, shamefully, guiltily, is something he hopes neither of them remembers ever happening.

Seth's still the same scumbag he's always been, he's not sorry for anything even if he tells Dean that they're even now, but maybe holding on to all of this for years has done nothing good. All it's done is take even more from him than Seth did. Seth's all alone again, with nothing, getting fucked up at a bar without his title and with only his worst enemy for company, and Dean can't even muster up the energy to hate him anymore.

There's something about being in the middle of Vegas in the middle of the night, this little part of the desert lit up like a Christmas tree that you can see from space, people and sounds and colour everywhere, but no one paying any attention to you. Feeling completely anonymous and like you could just get lost in the crowd, be drowned out completely by the lights and music and spectacle all around you. Become someone else if you want, maybe. It's like the exact opposite of being in a wrestling ring, all the lights and all eyes on you all the time. Dean gets off on that, but he needs this too, needs a break from all of that to renew the parts of him he gives away every night: feeling totally free and at ease, just another faceless person on the Strip or forgetting the rest of the world exists when he's out in the vast emptiness of the desert all by himself. It's strange how two absolutely contradictory experiences can give him the same feeling, but he supposes this is the city of opposites, of extremes. It's why it's perfect for him.

Maybe it's the hour or the alcohol or the city or being here with Seth, but it feels like the veil's come down between this world and another one, one where things could be different. It's probably a fantasy but maybe he can let it become his reality just for this one night, this one moment, before everything turns ugly and bitter and cold again.

That's why he lets Seth kiss him. And kiss him and kiss him until he thinks that maybe this is real, maybe they have a chance. And he immediately fucking regrets it. But he doesn't stop either. Seth's not sorry, he'll never be sorry, he just wants shit he can't have, he's just fucking selfish like he's always been, he's just using him to fill a void — he knows all of this, but maybe he can just pretend. Just for a second. He hates it, he hates it so much, he hates how good this feels. He hates that it feels like they've been doing this forever when they can never have this again.

He takes him back to his hotel, unlocks the door to his room, puts him to bed. Seth closes his eyes immediately, lets out a heavy exhale, his cheek smushed into a pillow. Dean just stands there for a second, watching him as he falls asleep, and somehow this is becoming a habit. It used to be a habit. Before. Dean tries not to think about it now but there were so many nights back when they were sharing a room, sharing a bed, and he couldn't sleep or he woke up from nightmares and he'd just turn on his side and watch Seth for a long time. His messy hair. His long, dark eyelashes casting shadows on his cheeks. His lips slightly parted as he let out soft breaths. He always looked younger when he was sleeping, features relaxed, edges smoothed away. Seth was always so in control all the time, always outsmarting everyone or scheming something up, so seeing him that vulnerable was startling and entrancing at the same time. Dean never wanted to protect someone that much, protect this thing between them that should've felt fragile but was one of the strongest things he'd ever known; it was always pretty astounding to think about how much Seth _trusted_ him. Somehow he still trusts him now, even after everything. 

He reaches out once towards his sleeping figure, like he can't help it, then pulls his hand back slightly like he's been burned. Then he reaches out again, slowly and hesitantly this time, hardly breathing like he's frozen in place, his gaze tracing over Seth's face. He runs his fingers over his hair, feather-light, just a ghost of a touch, then grazes the backs of his fingertips over his warm cheek, almost reverently. 

He pulls away again suddenly, his hand closing into a tight fist at his side. Feeling a combination of utter despair and self-loathing well up in him. So thick and oppressive he could choke on it.

He squeezes his eyes shut for a second, jaw clenched, feeling like he could scream, like he could strangle someone with his bare hands. He breathes in deeply through his nose, lets it out through his mouth in a rush. He walks away without looking back, shuts the door behind him without a sound.

*

Dean doesn't call him, doesn't go to see him, doesn't think about him. Maybe with enough space and time, it'll be like none of it ever happened and those memories will fade away as if they'd really just imagined them.

It works, it works for awhile, until he's standing right in front of him again and everything — every single second he's wanted to forget — comes crashing right back into him. Like a chairshot to the heart.

*

_And I never said that before, so I'll say it again — I'm sorry, alright?_

The words keep echoing around in his fucking head. He wishes he could surgically remove them from his brain; he wishes he could've just stopped Seth from saying a single word, ripped his tongue out if had to. He doesn't mean it. He doesn't mean it. He can't mean it.

But Seth's right fucking there and he's still talking about shit he should never talk about and bringing up things that should've been cast aside as nothing but empty dreams a long time ago.

He should've never gone to Birmingham. Should've never sat down next to him at that bar. Should've never let Seth kiss him. Should've never walked him back to his hotel, stood beside his bed and let himself look at him like he was all he ever dreamt about for two whole years. Should've never come to his rescue with a steel chair a week ago. It suddenly feels too achingly real.

This is all spiralling out of control and it was supposed to be done, he and Seth were supposed to be done after that night, but something inside of them just keeps bringing them back here, back to each other over and over again. He wishes he could reach inside him and tear out the piece of him that can't live without Seth. That still wants him, _yearns_ for him, that wants to believe him when every other fibre of his being is telling him otherwise. It's like a fucking cancer, making him weak, sucking all the life out of him. Preventing him from ever moving on, being happy, feeling anything other than _this_. It's been growing and growing in the dark for years. And Dean can't stop himself from nurturing it sometimes. With every furtive glance and every stolen moment and every agonisingly hopeless wish.

It's never going away. He knows that now. Maybe that piece of him has just been his heart all along. 

*

_A single look in your eyes tells me you're lying._

You're lying. You're lying. You're lying.

Dean spent years and years trying to cut Seth out of his life, out of his heart, and nothing, none of it ever worked. Hating him, punishing him, humiliating him, watching him turn into a lonely, wretched shell of himself, taking his title and running far away where he could finally forget and be happy — it was all a lie. It still hurt every single day of his life. Because he'd never loved anyone like that before. Seth tried to kill his trust and his love a long time ago but Dean never let go of him no matter what happened, no matter how much cruelty and violence they inflicted on each other. It was impossible. Seth's a permanent part of his heart now, just like Dean's a part of Seth's. And maybe, against all odds, it'll be the thing that saves them both.

"I was lying too," Seth tells him quietly, in the locker room after.

"What?" Dean asks, voice low and raspy.

"I was lying to myself. The whole time. I didn't want any of that. I was fucking miserable every day. I wanted you back, so bad, but I knew I'd fucked it up. Forever. I knew I didn't _deserve_ —" Seth shakes his head dejectedly, eyes falling to the floor.

Dean takes a step forward, reaches out and touches his fingers to his face, without hesitating now, and gently tips his chin up so that Seth looks at him.

"You hurt me, more than anyone," he tells him truthfully. "I didn't think I'd ever survive that. I thought it would turn me into something I would hate forever. But I don't know, maybe some part of me never gave up hope. I fucking _hated_ seeing you like that. And I think when I saw you in the hospital — something… _changed_ , without me realising it. Like, maybe I saw that somewhere deep down, you were still the same guy that I knew. That I _wanted_." He can't help the way his voice cracks on the last word.

"I think about that all the time," Seth confesses, his eyes wide and bright, staring up at him unblinkingly. "When everything is just falling apart around me. I think about you. How you were there. And how fucking stupid I was. And how I would do _anything_ if I ever got the chance to get you back. Sometimes that's the only thing that keeps me going."

"You meant it, right?" Dean asks, voice small and unsure now, because he has to know.

Seth lets out a breath and then reaches up, curling his own fingers around Dean's hand that's resting on his jaw. He gently moves it over to his mouth so that he can press his lips to Dean's knuckles, eyes falling shut for just a moment before he lets go again.

"I meant it more than anything," he promises. "This is all I want. All I've ever wanted. I'm never letting go again."

They just stand there for a long moment, looking at each other, everything suddenly more clear and real than it's been in what feels like forever. Dean doesn't want to forget anything about this, this entire night, as long as he lives.

"Come on," Dean tells him eventually, voice light and casual, tilting his head over to the exit.

"Where are we going?" Seth says, looking a bit surprised but mostly just full of pure and utter contentment.

"Back to the hotel," Dean tells him simply, eyes soft and earnest and looking right into Seth's, unguarded and longing, probably the first time he's looked at him like that in years. Maybe ever.

Seth gives him a hint of an almost shy smile. "Okay," he tells him.

*

Seth spends the whole night in the hospital with Dean while the doctors check him out and his elbow's scanned a bunch of times and his surgery's scheduled. Dean looks across at him when he's curled up in a chair next to his bed nodding off and fucking hates everything about this.

*

After his surgery, he sits him down and tells him what he knows is gonna be hard to hear but Seth needs to listen, for both their sakes.

"Seth, you need to go," Dean tells him brusquely.

"What?" he asks, confused.

"You need to go do what you have to do. You can't stay here," he says, voice firm and resolved. Letting him know that this isn't a discussion. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Seth asks, eyes wide and almost angry now.

"I'm not gonna fucking be that guy — I'm not gonna hold you back or make you feel guilty for doing what you have to do." He knows Seth's already feeling guilty as it is, and that's not gonna do either of them any damn good in the long run.

"Dean, I'm not going to just leave you to deal with this alone," he argues, looking genuinely taken aback by this whole conversation.

"Seth, I'm gonna be fine. I have the best damn doctors and PTs in the country. It's gonna fucking suck, but it's just a matter of time, it's just a waiting game. You don't have to be here. You need to focus on your own shit," he tells him as rationally and patiently as he can. Seth should appreciate the logical thinking here at least. It's what makes the most sense, what's best for both of them.

Seth thinks he's fine with this now, but a couple weeks of hearing him whining and complaining and he's gonna start resenting him fast. And he can't be responsible for that. He's not gonna be a burden to anyone else. He needs to do this alone.

"Dean —" he protests again.

"I don't want you here, okay?" he bursts out. Then he instantly regrets it, closing his eyes for a second, scrubbing a hand over his face, taking a deep breath before looking back up at him.

"Seth," he says more gently now, meeting his gaze. "I won't be able to live with myself if I know you're worried about me and you're not doing exactly what you should be doing. Wrestling and kicking ass and being fucking amazing. Okay? _Please_. Just do this for me."

Seth just stares at him with a strange, sad look on his face, before he seems to come to a decision. He reaches out and rests his hand over Dean's.

"If that's what you want," he tells him, voice resigned, after a pause.

*

The night he comes back, he wraps his arms around Seth in bed, breathing in the scent of his hair, hoping he never has to let him go again.

"I thought you were gonna leave again," he says, lips pressed against his temple, only brave enough to admit it in the dead of dark. He's the one who told him to move on, to go on without him, and now he feels fucking terrible, because seeing Seth so happy and on top of the goddamn world just made him wonder if there really was a place for him beside him anymore. Seth's wanted this for so long, before he ever wanted Dean, and now he has it without any of the guilt or the blood on his hands. He deserves it, it's his and his alone now, and maybe that's always where he belonged. At the top, all on his own.

"Dean, I promised you," Seth tells him firmly. "I'm never walking away again."

And Dean believes him, but that's not what he's really scared of.

Dean just holds him tighter against him and tries to ignore the way everything somehow just feels so _wrong_ now. Has felt wrong for months. It's not about Seth or Roman. Not about them leaving him behind. It's something inside of him that still feels _broken_. He doesn't know when it happened. Maybe it was after the surgery, or after the infection that took all his control away and threatened to take away everything he cared about. Maybe it was during the countless hours and days at home all alone wondering if he's really where he wants to be, if he really belongs here. Maybe it was years and years ago when he first realised that nothing in his life was ever going to be easy, that everyone was going to hurt him and disappoint him and that meant that all he'd ever learnt was to hurt the people he loved too. He thought for a while that maybe he could overcome that, maybe he could be someone better than his past dictated, maybe he could forgive and move on and stay with the people he loved. But things have changed. He's changed. You don't almost die and come out on the other side the same person you were before. Maybe he should be grateful for every day, every moment he gets to spend with Seth and Roman, but now he's just — scared. Terrified that it's all slipping away again in front of his eyes. Maybe he's just destined to lose this over and over again. He can see it like it's already happened. Maybe it was all just a huge mistake, thinking he could have this, that he could be happy. That's not meant for him. He can't help but think that he's to blame for all of this and that nothing anyone does is going to make it better.

*

It gets worse. Much, much worse.

He tears The Shield apart because if he can't have it, then no one can. Because it's a lie. It's always been a lie. They were supposed to stand together, united, stronger than anything else, but they've been destroyed so many times. They're not stronger together. Seth was weak a long time ago. And Dean's just finishing the job. He should've done this years ago. He should've never let Seth back in because all it's led to is more pain and suffering. He thought he was safe inside a dream, safe to imagine, safe to pretend, just for a moment, but he's paying for it now. 

All their happy moments have turned to weapons. Because they were never going to last. Roman's gone and Seth was always destined to leave him behind and Dean — Dean knows now that he has to be the one to end it. The Shield was his family, The Shield was his heart, but his family's gone now, his heart's been broken too many times. A shield that never protected any of them. It's time to leave it behind.

*

Seth follows him out of the arena into the rain one night. He's just wearing a t-shirt and he already looks like shit and if his goal right now is to catch his death, he's probably doing a good job of it.

"You're really gonna do this, huh, Dean?" he demands when he's in earshot, like nothing else matters to him. "After everything I did to get you back?"

Dean turns around to look at him, streaks of raindrops obscuring his vision. "You only wanted this back because you didn't have anything else, Seth. I should've never believed the fucking lies that were coming out of your mouth. I guess you got so good at it that you even fooled me."

"This isn't about me, Dean. I was here. For you. The entire time. And you didn't trust me enough to tell me what was wrong." Seth's hair is soaked, thick, wet strands blowing in the wind. His forehead's creased in frustration and fury.

"You don't care about me, Seth," he tells him bitterly. "You just wanted to pretend that everything was fine. When it clearly fucking wasn't. Well, I can't pretend anymore, Seth. It's too late."

"You're the one who pushed me away, Dean. I would've been there _every single day_ if that's what you wanted. All I want is to fix this. I meant it when I said I'm never gonna walk away from this again. Even if you want to beat the shit out of me every night. I'm still gonna be _right here_."

He spreads his arms out wide at his sides stubbornly, just standing right there as bucketsful of cold water pour down over him, staring at him head-on, as if he's proving his point.

And Dean's just fucking tired of this, he wants this to be over, he just wants Seth to realise that he's better off without him, he always was, and stop trying to fucking save him. No one can anymore.

He breathes in deeply, trying to steel his will, so he can do what has to be done. The last time Seth tried to goad him into something, he was expecting a blow to the heart. Well, that's what he'll get now.

"I don't want this anymore, okay? I don't fucking love you," Dean tells him evenly, looking him straight in the eyes, and it's hardest fucking thing he's ever had to do.

Dean can see the utter devastation in his eyes but Seth doesn't drop his gaze from Dean's.

"You're _lying_ ," Seth says and it cuts right through the space between them, cuts right through the violent gusts of wind and rain whipping up around them.

Dean just stares back at him for a long time, not saying anything.

Then, he turns and walks away into the darkness, pulling his jacket closer around him although he's already soaked to the bone.

Seth doesn't follow him this time. But Dean can feel him staring at him, still standing in the icy downpour, until he's out of sight.

*

Roman's back and Dean can't look him in the eye.

And somehow, miraculously, he wants to forgive him. And he doesn't deserve any of this, he doesn't _want_ it.

Seth's trying to talk to him and he just wants to — leave, not be there. He wants to fucking hit something. He just wants to get in the ring and wants someone to punch him, hard, in the jaw, until his brain rattles around in his skull and he doesn't have to fucking think about any of this.

But they're fucking there anyway. Telling him he doesn't have to deal with this alone. And he doesn't want it. He just wants to be far away from all of this, where it doesn't hurt so fucking much. Where Seth can't look at him like he sees every fucked-up thought in his head. Where Roman can't show him that he loves him unconditionally.

He can't leave them to get picked apart by the wolves though. God help him.

Afterwards when they're backstage, Roman tells him quietly, "I get it, man. It's hard, thinking about your family. Thinking about what you're putting them through. But they're there to carry that weight too, you know? If you cut yourself off because you think you're protecting them, then you're gonna _lose_ them. All we want is to be there for you. Like you've been there for us. We love you, man. We're always gonna love you. Wherever you go."

Roman gently puts his arms around him, cradles his head against his shoulder. Dean squeezes his eyes shut and just holds on.

*

Seth stares at him all day like he's about to disappear or blow away on the wind.

After their last match together, Seth just looks across at him and says, matter-of-factly like he's prepared himself for this, "So, is this where you tell me I need to let you go? Move on?"

"Is that what you want?" Dean asks soberly.

"I don't know if I can do that," Seth tells him honestly.

"Seth, I need to figure some stuff out. I need to figure _myself_ out. And I don't think I can do that —"

"With me?" Seth finishes, the words drenched in palpable heartbreak.

"I love you," Dean tells him breathlessly. "You know I love you. But so much shit has happened. And I'm not over it, you know? I don't think you're over it either."

"So, you need space?" Seth suggests.

"I think we both need to just...take some time. On our own. Be with ourselves." _Be better to ourselves._ They've hurt each other and themselves too many times. Somehow it always seems to be one and the same. Dean needs to find his own path and Seth needs to find a way to be okay without him. For a short while, at least. Dean has no idea what the future holds for either of them, but he knows that he can't be here anymore. He has to leave the past behind him, all of it, so he can have a real shot at that freedom and contentment he's been seeking his whole life, in fights and bottles and places and people, and is yet to truly achieve for himself.

Seth sighs. "It was a nice dream. While it lasted."

Dean comes closer to him, reaches up and tenderly rests his hand on Seth's cheek.

"No," Dean tells him, shaking his head. "No, it was _real_."

Dean kisses him before he walks away. Tells him _This isn't goodbye._ He doesn't know if he's lying or not yet.

*

In the end, Seth kept his promise. He never hurt him again. But Dean has to be the one to hurt him now, even though that's never what he intended, for both of their own good.

Dean hasn't talked to him in a long time. There's no point. Seth doesn't want to talk to him. Seth thinks he lied to him. Seth knows now that he's not coming back. He looks lost and scattered on TV and it's not like him at all. He's not hiding it well. Dean's been trying to be happy because that's all he can do. He thinks he's done a decent job of it. Being alone has always felt familiar to him and it's easy to just keep pushing forward, keep his focus on other things, fighting, training, drinking, travelling, never slowing down enough for the weight of it to fully catch up with him. Maybe it will someday and he'll get crushed under it again, but he can't think about that now.

He texts Roman sometimes. He always says that Seth's not doing so well without him. It's painfully clear to see. Seth's always tried and tried to hide his emotions deep down under layers and layers of self-righteousness and bravado and the illusion of pragmatism, but it's always spilled out anyway. Now it's like he's not even trying anymore, like he doesn't even believe the things he's saying, he's just desperately holding on to whatever he can so he doesn't fall apart completely with no one to put the pieces back together.

Dean's less obvious. There isn't anyone left who knows him well enough to see the cracks. Maybe he did that for a reason. Maybe if Seth were here, he'd be able to see through him the way he always did. Or maybe Seth doesn't know him either anymore. Maybe he thought he did it on purpose. Dean just needs to leave everyone behind, start over, that's the best thing for all of them. But maybe he's just holding on to that idea too. Maybe he's lying to himself just like Seth. The last time he convinced himself he was doing the right thing for everyone, all it led to was ruin and disaster. 

Seth's angry at him. He can't really say he blames him for that. Maybe he thought it was just as bad as what he did to Dean. Betrayed him and left him for the enemy. Maybe he's not entirely wrong. Maybe his fucked-up head has him convinced that Dean abandoned him, that he never loved him at all. Maybe he'll get over it in time. Maybe he won't and he's destined to go down the wrong path again. Dean fucking hates thinking about it. And he can't do anything about it. It's his fault, one way or another. Maybe they should've never pretended in the first place that this could have a happy ending. It almost feels like a cruel twist of irony now. Seth thought he could live without Dean once, and now he's slowly unravelling without him. Dean tried so, so hard to let Seth go and never could, and now that he has, he's wondering if maybe it was all a mistake.

He's lying in a hospital room, and he remembers the last time, remembers telling him to leave, and how much he regretted it. He thinks about texting him, about calling him, but he can't bring himself to do it. He needed him the last time and he pushed him away instead. Now he's not supposed to need him anymore, and Seth doesn't want to hear from him anyway. 

When he comes to after surgery, there's a text on his phone that just says _Imagine I'm there when you wake up._

He just smiles at the words and puts it away inside of him along with all the other clandestine moments they've shared in the liminal spaces between reality and dreams.

He can't do anything else now but keep moving forward, keep doing what he has to do, what he thinks will make him happy. Tries to forget about it for now. Keeps it locked up in a small, dusty room inside his heart that he hasn't visited in a while but remains there always. And maybe one day, when they don't even know it, that nebulous but undeniable entity that he sometimes thinks of as fate might once again bring them back to each other.

*

It's months and months later when they run into each other on a sidewalk in broad daylight at a busy city intersection outside a coffee shop. They just stop and stare at each other like the rest of the world has suddenly ceased to exist.

"Dean?" Seth asks, voice strange like his mouth's grown unaccustomed to forming his name, his eyes wide like he can't believe he's really there. "Is that you?"

Dean just regards him carefully: he hasn't changed at all, he looks exactly the same, though maybe a bit more tired around the eyes than the last time he saw him. 

He feels a small, involuntary smile drift over his face, nodding at him. "Yeah, it's me," he says. "I'm right here."

Seth moves closer to him, ignoring the throngs of people weaving around them on the sidewalk, until he can look right into his eyes, for the first time in so long. 

"I missed you," he says softly, all at once, like an exhale of pure relief.

Dean doesn't drop his gaze from Seth's face. "I missed you too," he tells him, knowing that Seth can see just how much he means it from one look in his eyes.


End file.
